COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES cational requirements on community managers. 5 The Offi ce of the Common Interest Community ombudsman provides an additional resource for owners to obtain information and education on common interest communities. It also serves as a forum for their complaints to be heard. This article reviews the governmental oversight structure in Virginia for common interest communities and provides a limited summary of the Virginia laws and regulations that govern them. I. OVERSIGHT OF COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS AND COMMUNITY MANAGERS Virginia condominium associations and property owners’ associations (collectively “community associations”) are required to register with the Common Interest Community Board (CICB). The Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) is the regulatory agency that oversees the CICB. The CICB regulates condominiums, community associations, community managers, and certain management company employees. Currently, there are more than 6,527 registered community associations in Virginia, of which 4,430 are property owner associations and 1,801 are condominium associations. 6 A. COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY BOARD The CICB is created by statute 7 as a policy board; 8 it consists of eleven members appointed by the Governor. The CICB has broad authority over management companies, including the authority to establish regulations, fees, procedures, and quali-fi cations for the issuance and renewal of community manager licenses. Included in its authority is the establishment of crite-ria for licensing of management companies and the certifi ca-tion of certain management company employees. 9 The CICB approves educational programs and required training and enforces the statutory requirements and regulations pertaining to management companies. 10 Complaints concerning actions of community managers are handled by the CICB. 11 If a community association is not compliant with the relevant laws and regulations, the CICB is authorized to take action, which may include fi ling a lawsuit against the community association, issuing a cease and desist order, or assessing a monetary penalty up to $1,000 per viola-tion. 12 B. OFFICE OF THE COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY OMBUDSMAN The CIC ombudsman offers assistance and information to community association members. 13 The director of DPOR appoints the ombudsman; 14 the ombudsman is separate and distinct from the CICB. If a community association member has a complaint on whether or not their association is complying with Virginia laws or regulations related to common interest communities, the member may fi le a complaint with the CIC ombudsman. 15 The ombudsman will review the member’s complaint and any information submitted by the community association, analyze www.vsb.org the applicable law or regulations, and make a decision as to whether the community association is in violation. 16 The CIC ombudsman’s decision is not binding on either party, but it provides a third-party review and guidance in an effort to resolve the member’s issue. The decision is in the sole discretion of the ombudsman and is a fi nal decision with no further review. 17 Even though the decision is not binding, if the ombudsman fi nds a violation and the association fails to take the recommended action(s), the next complaint alleging the same violation could be referred to the CICB for action. II. VIRGINIA STATUTES AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITY MANAGERS The statutes governing common interest communities include the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act (Va. Code Ann. §§ 55.1-1800 et. seq .), the Virginia Condominium Act (Va. Code Ann. §§ 55.1-1900 et. seq.), and Common Interest Communities (Va. Code. Ann. §§ 54.1-2345 et. seq.) . The Virginia regulations pertaining to common interest commu-nities include the Common Interest Community Manager Regulations, the Common Interest Community Management Information Fund Regulations, the Common Interest Community Ombudsman Regulations, and the Condominium Registration Regulations. We will review selected portions of the CIC Manager Regulations and CIC Ombudsman Regulations. A. COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY MANAGER REGULATIONS The CICB is empowered to promulgate regulations for com-munity managers. 18 The CIC Manager Regulations are part of the Virginia Administrative Code; 19 the Regulations provide the details for the required licensure and certifi cation of com-munity managers. (Virginia is one of nine states that require community managers to be licensed.) Any fi rm or person offering community management services must apply to the CICB for its license. 20 The license process is very broad but stringent. Applicants must disclose their criminal history, obtain a blanket fi del-ity bond or employee dishonesty policy, and meet required standards of conduct. Further, each applicant must hold an active designation as an Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) by the Community Associations Institute (CAI) or have an employee who holds a Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) designation from CAI. 21 The AAMC designation requires a minimum of three years of management experience; a senior manager with a PCAM designation. At least 50 percent of the managers em-ployed by the company for at least two years must hold a CAI professional manager designation; fi delity, general liability, and worker’s compensation insurance; and compliance with the CAI Code of Ethics for Managers. 22 The PCAM designation re-Communities continued on page 29 REAL PROPERTY | Vol. 68 | October 2019 | VIRGINIA LAWYER 25